Removal Efficiency of Air Pollution Control Device

What is this formula?

This formula calculates the pollutant removal efficiency of an air pollution control device by comparing inlet and outlet pollutant concentrations.

When to use it

Use it to evaluate the performance of baghouses, scrubbers, electrostatic precipitators, cyclones, cartridge filters, activated carbon systems, and other emission control equipment.

Example

Data:

Cin = 250 mg/m³

Cout = 15 mg/m³

Formula:

η = (Cin − Cout) / Cin

Substitution:

η = (250 − 15) / 250

η = 235 / 250

Result:

η = 0.94

Removal efficiency = 94%

Applications

Air pollution control, stack emissions reduction, environmental compliance, filter performance evaluation, industrial ventilation systems, and environmental engineering design.

Note

This formula represents an observed performance indicator and not a fundamental physical law. The calculated efficiency depends on operating conditions, pollutant characteristics, flow rate, particle size distribution, maintenance status, and measurement accuracy. Different pollutants may exhibit different removal efficiencies within the same control device.